The Boogeyman, Sharks, and Musicians

The movies Halloween and Jaws have always been not only 2 of my favorite movies but 2 of the scariest I have seen. Unlike a lot of blood and gore movies where everything is right in your face what makes these so scary is that you rarely see the villain (Michael Myers – aka “The Boogey Man” or the shark). “FEAR” is caused by that of the “unknown”. Think about it. If you knew absolutely 100% without a doubt that you could walk into a burning building and walk out totally unharmed, would you be afraid? Probably not. It is the “unknown” outcome which scares us. As musicians and song-writers it becomes many unknowns… Will I play the song right? Will I get the gig at this audition? Will they pick my song at the publisher pitch? It is these exact unknown outcomes which create fear in us. Fear can be a good thing as it warns us of something we need to prepare for but it can also paralyze us and create more problems if we don’t know how to handle it. I always try to face fear head on and just keep hitting that boogeyman or shark because the only sure way for them to get you is if you don’t fight back.